Smarter weapons needed to fight savvy financial criminals

Dec 21, 2017

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December 21 2017

Today, it is estimated that money laundering around the world reaches between US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion) to US$2 trillion, around 2 per cent to 5 per cent of global gross domestic product. While many are not directly exposed to the effects of money laundering, the impact in social and economic terms is staggering.

On the social spectrum, successful money laundering leads to increased criminal activity, fuelling terror and drug-related crime. On the economic front, illicit financial flows result in additional costs to businesses such as banks for monitoring and prevention purposes, losses in tax revenue for governments, and artificially inflating financial and property sectors.